PA Secretary of Health Highlights the Importance of Working with Communities to Improve Health at Public Health 3.0 Echo Event

HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Secretary of Health Dr. Karen Murphy today stressed the importance of improving health outcomes and access to quality health care at a meeting with community and business leaders from Dauphin, Perry, and Cumberland counties.

"Even as we research and explore all of the factors in our environment and in our bodies that impact our health, our ZIP codes are more likely to determine our health than our genetic codes," Secretary Murphy said. "It's essential that communities begin a conversation to identify areas where health gaps exist and develop solutions that will improve health outcomes for all of our residents."

Public Health 3.0 is a national movement that represents a progression from Public Health 2.0, a model which has been utilized for the past several decades and has traditionally focused on the development of governmental programs to improve health outcomes. Public Health 3.0 calls for business leaders, community leaders, state lawmakers, and federal policymakers to boldly expand public health to address all aspects of life that promote health and well-being, including:

Economic development;

Education;

Transportation;

Food;

Environment;

Housing; and

Safe neighborhoods.

In collaboration with local community organizations and coalitions, the Department of Health is holding four regional events across the commonwealth to engage in a conversation about how to create conditions that allow all members of our communities to live healthy lives. Event locations have been chosen based on Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's County Health Rankings health outcome data around five health priority areas of obesity, diabetes, oral health, substance use, and tobacco use.

For more information about the Department of Health's efforts to improve public health in the commonwealth, visit our website at www.health.pa.gov or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.